Nominee Tested by CIA Critic

Senator Confronts Brennan With Findings of Classified Report on Interrogations

ENLARGE

John Brennan, picked to run the CIA, testified Thursday at a hearing disrupted by protesters against drones.
AP

By

Siobhan Gorman And

Siobhan Hughes

Updated Feb. 8, 2013 12:13 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, was confronted at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday with findings in a classified report on the CIA's now-defunct interrogation program that called into question its ability to execute covert operations, citing critical instances of agency mismanagement.

The poor handling of the program cited by the report, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.), is critical because it points to systemic problems at the CIA that could affect its ability to carry out other sensitive programs—such as targeted killing of terrorist suspects with drones.

Mr. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief nominated for the top CIA post, said he would determine if the findings in the report, produced by the Senate intelligence committee, were true.

"This report raises serious questions about whether or not there are serious systemic issues that are at play here," he said, adding that a priority as CIA director would be to understand the nature of such problems. He called the report "very concerning and disturbing."

Top CIA officials running the controversial program that employed harsh interrogation tactics, such as waterboarding, managed the program incompetently and were "ignorant of the topic," said Mr. Rockefeller.

Officers carrying out the program lacked experience, and some were corrupted by "pecuniary conflicts of interest," he said.

The CIA sold the program to the White House and Congress with "grossly inflated claims of professionalism and effectiveness," he added. "It was a low point in our history."

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The Senate Intelligence Committee completed its more than 6,000-page report in December, and it is now under review by the CIA and the White House. It remains classified, though several lawmakers have requested that some of it be declassified.

The CIA's management of its interrogation program, which Mr. Obama shuttered in 2009, was one of several contentious and sometimes emotional exchanges during the highly anticipated hearing before the Senate intelligence panel that also addressed such issues as targeted killings and media leaks.

The interrogation discussion grew personal, when senators pressed Mr. Brennan on his role at the CIA when the program was in operation. At the time, he was the deputy executive director, a top administrative position at the agency.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R., Ga.) said Mr. Brennan received 50 emails that reported on the progress of the interrogation of al Qaeda operative Abu Zubayda, one of three detainees who was waterboarded, and asked what steps Mr. Brennan took to stop the use of the techniques he says he objected to.

Protestors of U.S. drone policy disrupted the opening statement of John Brennan during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee to become the head of the CIA. Photo: Associated Press.

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"I did not take steps to stop the CIA's use of those techniques. I was not in the chain of command of that program," Mr. Brennan responded. While he was copied on some emails, he added, "I had no oversight of it, I wasn't involved in its creation."

He said he expressed his personal objections to "some agency colleagues" about techniques that involved waterboarding and nudity, but he didn't specify to whom he raised objections.

Asked about previous comments that these interrogations "saved lives," Mr. Brennan said he had "the impression" at the time that they had produced valuable intelligence. But he said the new interrogation report "raises serious questions about the information that I was given at the time."

The mood in the hearing room was tense from the outset, as protesters filled the audience holding signs condemning killing and torture.

"We're making more enemies!" shouted a female protester. "We need to stand up against torture; stand up against drones," a youngish man yelled as he was escorted out.

After a handful of interruptions, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the committee chairman, halted the hearing to clear the room of dozens of protesters.

Several lawmakers raised the prospect of a secret national-security court that could vet targeted-killing decisions.

"I think that this has gone about as far as it can go as a covert activity, and I think we really need to address it," said Ms. Feinstein after the hearing.

Mr. Brennan said the idea was "certainly worthy of discussion."

Lawmakers also continued pressing for details on targeted killings. Mr. Obama on Wednesday granted some lawmakers access to a secret Justice Department opinion that outlined the rationale for killing American terrorist suspects abroad.

But Ms. Feinstein said there were eight additional documents the committee needs. Mr. Brennan didn't promise the committee would receive those specific documents.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) said the Justice Department hadn't yet fulfilled the president's promise to provide documents lawmakers need to understand the full legal analysis for killing an American terrorist suspect abroad.

"Every American has the right to know when their government believes it's allowed to kill them," Mr. Wyden said.

He asked Mr. Brennan if the U.S. government should admit publicly if it kills the wrong people, and Mr. Brennan said it should.

One of the testier exchanges Thursday came when Sen. James Risch (R., Idaho) suggested Mr. Brennan has leaked information about an al Qaeda bomb plot foiled by the U.S. last year.

"I disagree with you vehemently, senator," Mr. Brennan told him, adding that he spoke "voluntarily and eagerly" with leak investigators and he is not a subject of that investigation.

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